The fees your processor doesn't advertise

What Card Payments Really Cost Your Business

The rate you were quoted is just the beginning. Interchange fees, scheme fees, terminal rental, and chargebacks add up to far more than 1.5%.

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The Fees Nobody Tells You About

Your card processor quotes you a headline rate. But that rate rarely tells the full story.

Interchange Fees

Set by Visa and Mastercard, interchange fees are charged on every transaction and vary by card type. Business cards, premium rewards cards, and international cards all carry higher rates — often 0.3–1.5% on top of your quoted rate.

Scheme Fees

Visa and Mastercard charge their own scheme fees separately from interchange. These include authorisation fees, cross-border fees, and network access fees — typically adding 0.1–0.3% per transaction.

Terminal Rental

Card terminals cost £15–£40 per month per device. For a business with two or three terminals, that's £360–£1,440 per year before you've taken a single payment.

Chargebacks

When a customer disputes a card payment, you lose the transaction value plus a chargeback fee of £15–£25. Card fraud and friendly fraud cost UK businesses over £1.2 billion per year.

PCI Compliance

Storing and processing card data requires annual PCI DSS compliance. Non-compliance fees range from £10–£40 per month, and a data breach can cost tens of thousands in fines.

Minimum Monthly Charges

Many processors charge a minimum monthly fee regardless of your transaction volume. If you have a quiet month, you still pay the minimum — often £15–£30.

Card vs. Pay by Bank: The Real Numbers

Fee type

Card Payments

Pay by Bank

Headline rate

1.4–1.8%

0.5% flat

Interchange fees

0.2–1.5% extra

None

Scheme fees

0.1–0.3% extra

None

Terminal rental

£15–£40/month

None

Chargebacks

£15–£25 per dispute

None

PCI compliance

£10–£40/month

Not required

Settlement time

2–3 business days

Same day

Calculate Your Savings

Enter your monthly card turnover and average transaction value to see what you could save.

Monthly card turnover (£)

Average transaction value (£)

Your current effective rate (%)

Your estimated annual saving

£2,928

Based on 0.5% flat + 20p per transaction vs your current effective rate.

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